Municipal polling across Telangana peaceful, says DGP Shivadhar Reddy

HYDERABAD

Polling in seven municipal corporations and 116 municipalities across Telangana concluded peacefully on Wednesday, Director General of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy said.

From the Command and Control Centre at the Telangana Police Headquarters in Lakdikapul, the DGP, along with Additional DGP (Law and Order) Mahesh M. Bhagwat, monitored the polling process across the State through webcasting. He said that special attention was paid to sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas, with live feeds reviewed and instructions issued to field officers as required.

Addressing a press conference at the Election Commission office, the DGP said the webcasting system enabled real-time monitoring of polling stations and helped maintain law and order. He credited both the surveillance system and the deployment of police personnel for ensuring a peaceful process.

A total of 8,203 polling stations were covered statewide. Of these, 1,302 were identified as hyper-sensitive, 1,926 as sensitive and 4,975 as general. Security forces were deployed based on the categorisation and local assessment. Around 3,000 additional personnel from the police and other departments, including TGSP, Forest, Excise, CID and Legal Metrology, were mobilised to maintain order.

The DGP said that 100% webcasting arrangements had been made inside polling stations and outside the most sensitive centres to ensure transparency.

Police personnel also assisted elderly and differently-abled voters in several districts. In Nizamabad, Nalgonda, Wanaparthy and Peddapalli, senior officers oversaw arrangements to help elderly voters reach polling stations, including the use of wheelchairs. In Mulugu district, personnel on election duty provided first aid to a voter who fainted and ensured he was shifted to hospital. In parts of Sangareddy district, elderly voters were transported to polling stations, while in Mahabubabad district police personnel looked after young children while their parents cast their votes.